This invention relates generally to membrane proteins. More specifically, the invention relates to a method of magnetic alignment and two-dimensional crystallization of membrane proteins.
Membrane proteins are cell's primary mechanism for interacting with the external environment, and thus demonstrate exceptionally fine-tuned capabilities in sensing, selective transport, and catalysis. Three-dimensional (3D) structural models of membrane proteins are increasingly important in characterizing the molecular mechanisms of biological transport, sensing, and signal transduction systems, as well as in designing effective pharmacological agents.
Despite the importance of membrane proteins, they comprise only 2% of the protein structures in the Protein Data Bank. The critical bottleneck in determining structure-function relationships is the difficulty in expressing, purifying, and preparing membrane proteins for structural analysis. Electron crystallography of 2D crystals of membrane proteins in lipids is one technique for structure determination of membrane proteins in their native environment, but highly ordered 2D crystals are challenging to synthesize. For example, many methods of crystallizing membrane proteins use trial-and-error approaches, which are slow and expensive.
In addition, as perfectly monodisperse nanomaterials with unique transport, sensing, and catalytic properties, membrane proteins are also finding applications in engineered systems. Despite significant efforts to crystallize these membrane proteins into two-dimensional (2D) forms and incorporate these responsive nanomaterials in functional devices, the field suffers from an inability to predict and control the self-assembly of membrane proteins. As a result, an economically feasible manufacturing process for the 2D crystallization of a single membrane protein has not been developed.
Expanding the quality, efficiency, and scalability of techniques for 2D membrane protein crystallization will facilitate their structural analysis and application as responsive elements in functional devices. It would therefore be advantageous to develop a method of producing highly ordered two-dimensional membrane protein crystals.